Weimar-Era Cigarette Card Featuring A Black Cabaret Dancer [Ephemera] Ephemera,Illustrated,Women

Collectible Weimar-era cigarette card, issued by the Garbáty cigarette factory in Berlin, number 214 of a series of 250 "Famous Dancers." The image depicts an African-American showgirl in bangles and feathers dancing the Charleston; the text on the verso translates as: "The recent interest in Negro dancing brought many American Negro troupes to Europe, where their grotesque dancing and songs were very popular for a while." Although not a portrait of Josephine Baker, the smiling "Negro Girl" featured here, making eye contact with the viewer, recalls the images of the legendary American star of the Folies Bergère. The distributors of this card, the Jewish Garbáty family, were forced to sell their successful cigarette factory at a huge loss in October 1938, two weeks before Kristallnacht; the younger generation, including art collector Eugene Garbáty, managed to escape to the United States. Text in German. A compelling piece of ephemera, testifying to Berlin's cabaret culture between the wars. Cigarette card, measuring 2.5 x 1.75 inches, machine-deckled edges. Black-and-white image on recto, captioned "phot. Robertson;" text on verso. Trace of mounting adhesive to verso.